hello, and welcome to the news hour. the arab league is discussing syria after the u.s. postponed military action. the syrian president says he's ready for foreign attacks. this is all the news from europe, including the french government says it's ready to make public information it has on chemical weapons held by the syrian government. back home, former south

african nelson mandela is discharged from hospital, but he's still in critical condition. i'm paul reese. i'll have all the sports concerning bael makes his move to real ma drid. much more on the breaking news later on. the arab league is meeting in the egyptian capital of cairo to discuss how to respond to the suspected chemical attacks in syria. some delegates are calling for international help for end the violence and have condemned the regime. let's hear what's been said so far. >> translator: the regime in damascus has exceeded all boundaries and all limits and is dealing without mercy. the regime in damascus has exceeded all the red lines.

the regime has no fear of the almighty and has no ethics and no respect to the principles of the international world. i ask and urge the united nations to be able to do its job through its inspectors in order to punish those who committed such a crime. egypt expresses its objection to any military aggression or interference in syria. we're not defending the regime, but we reject military attacks because we have abided with the united nations charter. >> sue is on the line for us.

the arab league moved the meeting from tuesday to sunday. why this sense of urgency when the league has been largely silent about the issue of syria for a long time now? >> reporter: i think the sense of urgency came really when they saw the debates about whether the u.s. should push for military action or go to congress. they want to have the voices of the arab league factored into the international debate if you'd like. we heard both sides of the argument in the session. you heard the egyptian foreign minister saying no to intervention. the saudi foreign minister saying it's not fair to say there should be no foreign intervention when hezbollah is helping the syrian regime. he said should we wait until the syrian regime has exterminated all people? of course, the international congress leader came up and said, i stand here asking you to

support this military action, and he wants, in his words, to redress the balance if you'd like. he said iran and russia are very much a part of what's going on in syria, and he thinks there was some sort of military action here backed by the arab league led by the west. that would at least redress the balance of power i suppose, and the free syrian army could take over. >> sue, please stay with us. let's listen to what the syrian national coalition president has called for as you were just telling us. >> translator: let me tell you that i'm here today to ask your support, to ask your effective support for military action against the regime in syria to stop its machines of war in order not to kill the people. you know that like cancer a lot

of iranian military forces are there in syria. it is an occupied country. >> sue, how split, how divided is the arab league about what to do? >> reporter: well, from the last debate that they had last tuesday, we know that there are huge differences between theal jeerian delegation, the iraqi delegation and lebanese delegation. all of them not not willing to sign a resolution that sort of pushed forward this whole question of whether there should be military action. they're always standing with certain member stands. iran is on the same page if you'd like -- was even that decision, whether there should be a resolution condemning what they say is the syrian regime's heinous crimes, how they put it on tuesday. whether or not the pleas from the snc leader we just heard, the debate pushed by the saudi foreign minister, whether that will sway minds we don't know

for a moment. they've asked the media to move out where they can have a closed session without any media watching on. we're just going to have and wait and see with the coming hours as to whether they come to any marriage of minds where they think they can push forward and whether that, indeed, is anything like a resolution that would be backing any kind of military intervention by the west led by the u.s. >> sue, thank you very much. sue turton with the latest on the arab league meeting now under way there in cairo. let's go live to jeanne meserve in washington, d.c. for us. the u.s. secretary of state appearing on the major sunday talk shows. what's he saying about syria? >> reporter: the administration is making a full court press to try and win public support and congressional support for an authorization to take military action against syria.

so as you mentioned the secretary of state was on all the sunday morning political talk shows. he says the u.s. has evidence about what kind of chemical was used in the alleged attacks in syria. >> i can tell you today, sunday, that we now have evidence from hair and blood samples from first responders in east damascus. the people who came to help, we have signatures of sarin in their hair and blood samples. so the case is growing stronger by the day, and i believe that as we go forward here in the next days, the congress will recognize that we cannot allow assad to be able to gas people with impunity. >> jeanne, how are the u.s. public reacting to the u.s. president's decision to seek congressional approval for any military intervention in syria? >> reporter: the most recent

polling we had was the saturday paul by reuters. it still shows that support for military action is still very low. it has moved up, but it's still only about 1 in 3 americans supporting it at this point in time. that is why the administration is going out so hard and so strong to try and make its case. at the present tim it wants to sway that public opinion. along those lines the administration today is holding a classified briefing for members of the house on capitol hill to put more evidence on the table that it says supports its decision to take military action against syria. >> okay, jeanne. thank you once again. jeanne meserve live for us in washington, d.c. syria's president says his country is ready to face any external aggression. state tv has quoted bashar al assad as saying the u.s. threat will not undermine his fight against what he calls terrorist

groups. residents in the syrian capital of damascus are relieved that the prospect of u.s. military action has been postponed for now at least. >> translator: i believe barack obama's retreat comes because he felt he was wrong and even western countries are not backing him on his attack on syria. >> translator: we hope the situation gets better. >> translator: obama has become weak now, and we're the strong now. he's being little because he retracted everything. >> in other developments the french government is now ready to reveal classified information about chemical weapons inside syria. let's go to our european news center for more on that. meriar meriam. >> the information sheds new light on the chemical arsenal where it exceeding 1,000 tons of chemical agents including sarin and mustard gas. the french president, francois

hollande is coming under pressure on how to respond to events in syria. on sunday the french interior minister said they won't act alone, but he also said action must be taken. >> translator: the chemical massacre of damascus cannot and must not go unpunished. the determination of the president of the republic is intact. we have a body of evidence that proved the responsibility of the syrian regime. you know france's position. we're not in favor of liberating syria or regime change, but we must put an end to this. >> al jazeera's tim friend is monitoring developments for us from paris. >> reporter: according to the french press reports, these four pages of declassified documents will reveal more about assad's alleged stockpile of chemical

weapons. they apparently show that he has several hundred tons of mustard and sarin gas, and that he has used them against his own people. this is information gathered by french intelligence. it's in addition to that already revealed by the united states. but, of course, the french leadership here now engaged in a very similar exercise to their opposite numbers in washington. that is, convincing politicians and the french public that an attack against assad is justified as punishment for using chemical weapons. president obama's decision in the states to allow congress to have a vote and i say on any possible intervention has led to some similar calls here. of course, president hollande is able to act alone, and for the moment that appears to be the course that he's determined to pursue. there will be a debate in the

national assembly on wednesday, but at the moment that remains a courtesy for members of parliament to express their point of views. throughout monday the french leadership will be explaining their thinking on this crisis to the political leaders here in france in a series of meetings in paris. >> i'll be back later on in the program with more news from europe. now let's go back to doha. >> thanks. see you shortly. still to come on the program, a supply and demand conservationist in kenya call for tighter control to crack down on ivory poaching. hello, good evening, and good night. david frost is a man who interviewed presidents, prime ministers and former prisoners has died. real madrid prepares for the arrival, another new signing to deliver the goods. all the action is coming up in

sports. former south african president nell san mandela has changed. he remains in a critical condition. sandra page reports from outside the mandela residence in johannesburg. >> reporter: he moved to the comfort of his own home after three months in hospital. he's still in critical companies, and at times his health is unstable. an ambulance is on standby just in case he deteriorates and has to be rushed back to hospital, but he's receiving the best care possible. part of his home has been converted into an intensive care unit. the medical team treats him in hospital have also relocated. >> we review his case every 12 hours. those are medical decisions they make, and we do not interfere

with those decisions at all. they have decided that they have reconfigured the house so that he can receive proper intense care just as he would receive in hospital. >> reporter: the news has been welcomed by many people here. >> i'm not as worried with him being at a hospital. whether you're around people that really love you and care, you can feel the attachment and the positive images is just flowing. >> he'll recover if he's meant to recover. when the times comes, the time comes. there's nothing you can too about it. >> they think it's a good idea. i believe that we still need our hero alive. >> reporter: mandela celebrated his 95th birthday last month defying the odds and proving yet against his strength and resilience. he won the hearts of millions of people when he emerged from 27 years in prison wanting reconciliation and not revenge

to eventually become south africa's first black president. his grandson says the family is celebrating his return to home. they're deeply touched by the outpouring of prayers and messages of support from all over the world. the move home may allow the family more privacy, but it will reignite the intense level of interest in the health of a man still gravely ill. mandela has not played any role in public life for over a decade, but he is this country's moral compass. despite his fragile health, south africans draw strength from knowing he's still with them. tonya page, al jazeera, johannesburg. suspected boko haram members ambushed and killed 24 vigilant takes that tried to detain them in northeastern nigeria. conservationists are fighting a losing battle to try and protect the african

elephant. they say attempts to stem the flood of illegal ivory to asia are failing and the answer is to tackle demand. we have the report from kenya. >> reporter: each pair of these tusks represents a single elephants. some were old mate i can't recollects whose family depended on them. others from old bulls and the smaller ones from juveniles too small to breed. they found more than 3 tons of ivory hidden in a single container bound for asia. it was worth millions of dollars. >> this is a crime. this is not something being done by small guys. whoever is doing it is well-connected, has enough resources. >> reporter: this is what's driving the trade, the growing demand for fine ivory mostly in asia. conservationists argue there's far too much emphasis on stopping the supply and not nuch on reducing demand for what is, after all, a purely decorative

item. >> if buy an ivory bangle or rhino bangle, you want to wear it and show it off. it's the same, so that's the opposite of what we need to achieve to reduce demand. the south area of this park the last few months has been much worse hit. >> reporter: in the meantime they're using increasingly sophisticated technology to protect herds. they say in the game reserve they track some of the biggest linked to the mobile phone network. we used the system to find a fiercely protective mother, but save the elephants knows she probably will eventually be killed if demand keeps prices high. >> it's worth an enormous amount compared to local incomes here. the tusks of a single mature bull in this region in 2011 were worth 15 years of salary for an

unskilled worker or one and a half salary for a well-paid wildlife ranger. that's quite a temptation. >> reporter: too much temptation for the would-be poacher that shot sylvia in the jaw two years ago. she survived but with an infected wound that still causes her great pain. figures show in that year alone africa's elephants declined by more than 7%, and all the signs are that things are worse now. within the next ten years at this rate, poachers will have destroyed more than 70% of africa's elephants. and so conservationists say this crisis could drive elephants to extinction until something is done to stop both the supply and demand. al jazeera in kenya's game reserve. in japan the operator of the stricken fukushima nuclear power plant is investigating why radiation level at a tank holding contaminated water have

spiked. tepco detected an 18-fold increase in radiation near the bottom of a storage tank saturday. that's enough to kill an exposed person in four hours. a new leak has been detected. australia's primary has made a final push. kevin rudd is promising tax rates and greater increases in infrastructure. polls say he's unlikely to hang onto power. >> this was kevin rudd among friends. labor party activists in a convention center in part of brisbane where rudd is not just prime minister but the local member of parliament, safe territory for a final campaign rally. for all the clapping and cheering, kevin rudd's prospects don't look good. opinion polls say nationally they're behind the conservative political components. the party looks unlikely to hang

onto government. >> in this election we are now engaged in the fight of our lives. it's a fight about the values which underpin australia's future. a fight about our vision for australia's future. it's a fight about how we go about building australia's future. a future for the mon many and n just for the few. >> how did it come to this? in 2007 kevin rudd's party was elected with overwhelming support, but after a flurry of reform, rudd's popularity waned. his own deputy mounted a coup and become prime minister. julia gilliland had a coup, and then he launched into a comeback tour promising he changed from the man colleagues described as

dysfunctional as prime minister. he toughingened the position toward asylum seekers and said his opponents would wreck the economy with spending cuts. none of that seems to have been enough. >> he's been let down by his own creativity in coming up with a new political purpose, a new overwhelming, compelling narrative and a vision for the country. >> reporter: sunday's official campaign launch was actually rudd's final chance to make a big set piece pitch. those in the room loved it. >> for those who say he's already won this election. i say this, never, ever, ever underestimate the fighting spirit of the australian labor party. >> reporter: rudd knows he has to overcome doubts about his party's policies and personalities, convince people that the labor leadership saga, which has become a joke in a comedy video that went viral, is all in the pass. >> with my new look, i'm ready and taking over again. >> reporter: less than a week

out, rudd's prospects toont took look good. >> the latest opinion poll suggest a fairy tale comeback. his best result might be a honorable debate. losing but on a less of a scale. adam thomas, al jazeera. a germany news magazine says al jazeera has been hacked by america's national security agency. the nsa started to access al jazeera's internal communication during president george w. bush's second term in office. they say the operation was described as a, quote, notable success in the files passed on to them by whistleblower edward snowden. nick spicer is in berlin. he explains why al jazeera may have been targeted according to the documents. >> reporter: the german news mag

sfwleen believes it's because al jazeera was provided with cassettes and recording of senior leaders of al qaeda. this is speculation. there's nothing in the touments revealed that suggest any other motivation. it's interesting it all says this is the first media organization that has been targeted by the national security agency in the united states, at least according to the documents made public by edward snowden. we don't know what documents the nsa hacked into. we do know the existness of some of the documents handed over to the news magazine including one which was date-stamped the 23rd of march, 2006, top secret, which spelled out that the nsa's network analysis center was looking at interesting target within our system network to understand what was going on as regards discussions between them. it didn't spell out, however, in the article whether the nsa was looking at the internal communications of journalists,

senior managers, what they led to in terms of intelligent gathering on the american end. however, the magazine article did say that the nsa considered its operation to be a success. the tributes have been pouring in for veteran british broadcaster david frost that died at the age of 74. his career spanned six decades, but he's perhaps best known for the series of interviews he did with u.s. president richard nixon in the 1970s. lawrence lew reports. >> reporter: hello. welcome to "frost over the world." by the time david frost was on the screen at al jazeera, he achieved something no television journalist ever did. he was a true global star. a man who celebrities and world leaders and the rest wanted to be interviewed by, even if they knew it might be uncomfortable. >> so far it's been, you know, pretty much a disaster. >> it has.

>> reporter: he was equally at home sitting next to karzai as he was to isabel. such muches his charm and presence, he was impossible not to like. despite his fame, he always had time for a colleague in the corridor as it is a serving prime minister. >> amazing because of the amount of people he dealt with on a daily basis. you have statesmen, celebrities. he knew them all, and yet he was an ordinary guy. really very nice man. >> reporter: david cameron said, my heart goes out to korina and the family. david was an extraordinary man with charm, wit, talent and intelligence and warm in equal measure. he made a huge impact on television and politics. the nixon interviews were among the great broadcast moments, but there were many other brilliant interviews. he could be and certainly was with me a friend and fierce interviewer. after making his name in britain in the 1960s, frost broke

through in the u.s. with what mr. cameron alluded to. >> i let down the country. >> reporter: his most famous interview is of richard nixon when the president admitted he betrayed his people. that interview showed frost's general genius of understanding how they operate. >> he didn't go out of his way to meet people, because he was awkward with people. that clumsiness was one of the things that probably closed him off from knowing what the public was really thinking. it's those sort of personal flaws that come through. >> reporter: david frost's legacy is unique in world television. a newsman and journalist who is also an entertainer known on both sides of the lat lantic.

anyone who is anyone would be flattered to get a frost interview. lawrence lee, al jazeera, london. still ahead, we report from french guiana on residents taking on a gold mining country to protect their part of the amaz amazon. i'm nick spicer in germany. i'm looging at how the main challenging to angela merkel is struggling to revive his campaign. >> jorge lorenzo edges him out in a thrilling race when we return. ...

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welcome back. the top stories here on al jazeera. the arab league is meeting in cairo to discuss how best to the respond to the suspected chemical attack in syria. saudi arabia's foreign minister said his country would support a u.s. strike if the syrian people did. they say a military threat will not undermine his fight

against terrorist groups. u.s. president barack obama is seeking congress's approval for a military operation in response to an alleged chemical attack on civilians. hillary is a professor at american university and yale university and a former white house and state department official. she joins us from washington, d.c. welcome once again to al jazeera. the sunday talk shows in the u.s. have been talking about u.s. credibility being at stake. do you think what's happened in the last few days has changed how the u.s. is seen here in the middle east and beyond? >> yes, i mean the united states has had a significant problem of credibility and public opinion in the middle east for many, many years. by the end of the george bush administration, the united states was widely seen as a failing hedgeman, having failed in the invasion and occupations of iraq and afghanistan. the concern now is now in the middle east and even here in the united states, the united states looks not just like a failed and

failing hedge man but a flejing with. it has no strategy and can't stay with what its decided. >> wlar the u.s.'s objectives here in the middle east? let's look at the issue. the u.s. president is trying to sell the yad -- idea of military intervention as being in u.s. national security interests. what is it really about? >> i don't think anybody here in washington really buys that or believes it. there are 100,000 people that have already died in syria. the idea that 1400 more added to that death toll does not change the u.s. national security calculus. what's going on here is much more about the balance of power in the middle east. first, the balance of power in syria, concern in the american administration that the syrian opposition was collapsing, that its position of trying to overthrow assad had failed. and then the broader concern

that because our strategy of trying to weakness assad, to weaken iran wasn't going anywhere, iran would emerge triumphant with china and russia behind it. the balance of power goes even further against the united states and even more broadly in the world, that china and russia would score a real victory. that's the concern motivating the foreign policy. >> you also mentioned speaking to my colleague that is also about protecting israel. >> yes, very much so. it's about -- on two levels. one is the affinity that has become -- has permeated american political culture with israel and its right to have whatever national security strategy it chooses to have. the other is very much about american power. decades ago the united states wasn't as attached to israel.

what has happened is since the end of the cold war, the u.s. attachment to israel has increased as israel has been a force multiplier for the united states. it enables us and helps us to keep arab states weak and the iran weak and contained. if there's a threat to israel, it doesn't just threaten the lives of the jews in israel that americans report to care about. what it threatens is united states' ability to use israel to keep iran contained. that's the problem here in washington. >> hillary, once again, thank you very much for your perspective. >> thank you. in other news, a germany chance ler angela merkel is facing her main political rival in a televised tee bait. let's go back to london with more on that. hi again. >> merkel is making a bid for another term in office, and if successful she's europe's

longest serving rival. for peter steinbruck its his last chance to make an impress on voters. in this case spooiser join us live from berlin. this is the only televised debate just got under way a few minutes ago. it seems as though it's angela merkel who really has the upper hand going into the debate. >> she certainly does have the upper hand with 70% aprooul ratings according to numerous polls. people just like her as a leader, in particular, because of her leadership during the euro zone crisis where she was seen as defending the interests of german taxpayers and not spending their hard-earned savings willy-nilly to bail out greece or ireland or port gaugp. that endeared her to voters, as well as her personal style that's quite reserved. she takes time to think things

over. she's not a politician who likes to spit off a sound bite and stand out of the glare of the cra camera. that's the option of steinbruck of the social democrats who can be quite witte and has a very sharp tongue and has shot himself in the foot during this campaign saying the chancellor's job should be better paid, that angela merkel got extra votes from women because she was a woman, managing to insult both switzerland and italy over scandals i won't bother you with. he's had a hard time mobilizing his supporters. this is his last chance to grab back the attention of the germany voter. we expect 20 million will watch the debate tonight. >> it looks like an yul hill struggle for steinbruck as he tries to narrow the gap. you mentioned merkel's leadership in the euro zone crisis. what about international, and

how have those been playing into the came pain? >> they've played into a certain extent, because on friday they ruled out any possible german military intervention, should a military intervention happen. this causes people to hark back to 2003 before the iraq war when the social democratic chance lor schroeder said we won't go into iraq no matter what angering george bush and other allies. steinbruck is doing that same kind of thing. angela is not keen to going to war either. she said germany is not preparing at this point to send in any kind of troops or prepare any kind of military action so the difference is too fine for the voters to note. we can expect them to go on the attack on that front tonight in the debate. >> nice spice er live in berlin.

thank you. the vatican mandates tougher punishments for sexual abuse of children and covers vatican employees across the world. sonya reports. >> reporter: change may be ringing out at the vatican. in recent times the roman catholic church had its share of trouble to deal with. it's reeled from one sexual abuse scandal to the next and faced accusations it did more to cover up the crimes than punish the perpetrators. they're over hauling the legal code, and it has been a point of urgency. the changes only deal with members of the clergy and laypeople that live and work inside the vatican city. most obvious are the changes to laws concerning child abuse, a law with 12 years imprisonment and a hefty fine. >> translator: the church's awareness is changing, but we're not at the point yet where bishops are forced to denounce

crimes. the question is how much of the blow will be applied. >> reporter: the vatican signed up to the u.n. convention on the rights of the child back in 1990, but it's taken it 22 years to toughen up its own laws on crimes against minors, an enforcement that comes after years of dealing with the repercussions of the sexual abuse scandals within the church. for the victims there is a sense it's too little too late. >> we're not going to see the catholic church put its hands up and accept full responsibility for all the abuses that happened all over the world. this is simply a very small step in the right direction. >> reporter: as well as the child abuse scandals, the fallout from the vatileaks affair. documents stolen by the pope by his butler was published in the nag sfwleen within the highest levels of the healey see. the new legal says anyone that

receives confidential information risks eight years of imprisonment as well as a fine. the church may take steps to claw back its credibility and changing the laws might redress some of that damage, if it has the bill to abide by its words. al jazeera, vatican city. a new think tank released a report that identifies the country as the drug and alcohol addiction capital of europe, a problem costs the economy $56 billion a year. of particular concern is the use of so-called legal highs. the drugs live salvia and green rolex are coming on the streets. 130 u.k. registered websites now sell legal highs, sometimes packages at research chemicals. it must carry a waern against public consumption. it's linked to permanent bladder damage, blood poisoning and death. in 2012 22 deaths were linked by

legal highs. i'm join by dr. adam winstock. good to have you with us. do we have to be careful about what we mean by legal high as a definition of the term? >> absolutely. they differ widely in their effect profile and their toxicity. it's like saying all cars are minis. clearly they're not. >> reporter: how big of a problem is this in the u.k. what went wrong in terms of the government's approach to banning these kinds of substances? >> this is an international phenomena. you can't ban these drugs locally when they're manufactured overseas and coming over the internet. these are the biggest problem for the uk both for population health and government policy remain alcohol and tobacco. >> the fact you can buy drugs like this online, some 130

websites can sell these cheaply, that must make the trend that much more potent. >> availability doesn't necessarily mean these drugs are commonly used by many people. so the common drugs that are being used today in the u.k. are the same one used for a decade. cannabis, cocaine and ectasy. there are drugs that gain favor. banning them can do something, but it's not the whole solution. >> in terms of the problems with alcohol, what have you seen in your experience, many of the users that turn to those drugs? would they use these legal hidrs as well. >> the drugs they prefer to take are the ones they've taken. peel don't take legal highs thinking they're safe. most people that use drugs aren't daft. they want to avoid harm. they're easy to get. the quality of many illegal

drugs has deteriorated over recent years. >> good to get your thoughts on this story. thanks very much for coming in. we're up to date with the news from europe. back to doha. coming up, living in a big city vulnerable to earthquakes. how tehran is meeting an ever-present threat. and the world record transfer of garrett has that finally happen. we'll have more why the spanish player took so long. that and more when we come back. begin to take effect? >> reporter: the laws do not go next.

for cedric, a walk deep deep into the jungle is not an exotic holiday. rather for him the rain forest is a way of daily life and survival. >> translator: here in the jungle we go to hunt and to fish. it's our culture. without this jungle, we have nothing here. were he and 70 other people live in the ville ablg deep in the jungles of french guiana, and this is europe's largest natural park in the only slice of the amazon. the residents have decided to protect the village from development for good reason. in only one hectare of forest here, there are more plant and

animal species than in the whole of europe. there's something else here. gold, and lots of it. that's why the government granted a small french mining company named rexma a five-year license to explore it against the wishes of the villagers. the area they want to explore has an estimated 8 tons of gold along the nearby river, the main waterway for the village. back ft capital, an investigation is underway into allegations they falsified environmental documents submitted to government authorities, but rexma flatly denies in i wrongdoing and says the whole controversy is overblown. >> it's 12 hectares, and we're not going to destroy the world. they will give the french guiana people jobs. >> reporter: all right rexma has offices set up and three pieces of heavy machinery ready to

start digging as soon as they get final authorization. the issue has practical and symbolic significance. >> translator: if a world power like france or europe can't preserve a little piece of our own forest, how can we have the moral authority to tell other countries smaller than us to preserve their forest? >> reporter: as night falls they fear if it's given the green light it will mean pollution of the river and an influx of fwoeld miners in the area. as they gather for their daily game, all they can do is wait and see what government officials will decide to determine the future of their home in europe's part of this pristine amazon. iran sits on some of the world's most active seismic logical fault lines.

we are in tehran. >> reporter: welcome to tehran. it's one of the world's most dangerous cities not because of crime but because of nature. more than 250 earthquakes have hit the city in the past four months. it's a worry tehran lives with on a daily basis. >> translator: iran is an earthquake-prone country. we don't have low risk areas. all faults are either average or high risk. iran's earthquake threat is very high and the city has been destroyed several times already. we cannot predict it, but we should expect an average to strong earthquake in take tear ran. >> they're preparing for a quake once that seismologists think will destroy much of tehran.

last year an earthquake flattened villages. survivors criticized the government for slow response time and lack of rescue equipment. the city is forming volunteer squads across the city to avoid the same situation. >> translator: we have organized more than 800 volunteer groups in tehran. we have trained them and provided them with the necessary equipment. more than 1,000 groups have been organized in different places like stores and the bazaar, but our plan is to get the number to more than 2,000. >> reporter: tehran has a fluctuating population of about 12 million people. it's congested, and disaster managers know this presents an enormous challenge, particularly in old neighborhoods. old construction covering 6,280 hectares of the city. it's not just old buildings. there's a building boom under way in tehran right now. already some of the newest structures are showing signs of wear and tear. that's because of the speed at

which they're going up. a lot of homeowners seeing more concerns with turning a quick profit than the future. al jazeera, tehran. it's time for all the sports now. >> some news you've been waiting for. he transferred and everyone in football has been waiting for. it will happen. g gareth will join real madrid for $132 million. andy richardson has more on why the spanish giants are willing to splash all that cash. >> gareth bale has visited before, and that was as tott tottenham player two years ago. he has consistent match winning and he was named the player of the year last season. the welchman lacks the

international profile. they're used to the club spending big, they're a little uncertain this time around. >> reporter: he's going to be good, but he's still expensive. i think it's too much money, but hopefully real madrid can take advantage of the image and make him profitable. >> reporter: it's an arguments rivals have been brought into. he claims the fee are out of step with spain's economic climate. >> translator: bael is a very good player. the numbers are almost a lack of respect to the world in general. >> it's no surprise it con insides with his re-election as real's president, and there's new determination to move and a season when no trophies were won. perez was the man behind the signing of another high profile british player by the name of david beckham.

perez will hopes bale's marketable can grow. in england bale was the main man of his club. at real some big names and strong characters are already in place, not least renaldo, the current focus on the pitch and just about any photo opportunity away from it. they aren't buying a global star but a player they believe can become one. andy richardson, al jazeera. >> a deal with bale comes 24 hours before the european transfer window closes, and it could pave the way for several more big money moves with real madrid possibly looking to off-load players. but a fee for bale is a stunning $132 million. that's the fifth time the world transfer record has been broken in the last 14 years. all of five have been made by

real madrid. the previous record was $120 million. that's the fee real paid for portuguese attacking christian renaldo when he joined from manchester united in 2009. a few weeks earlier, they had recruited the brazilian play paker for 85 million word and europe champion has held the record for eight years when he moved for 80 dill dill and louse wi fego cost r56 -- 56 million from barcelona the year before. they weren't happy to join the fierce rivals. they threw a pigskin at him. it came an hour ago tottenham will win and it was scored in the first half by olivea. they held on for a win, chsz the

fourth successive victory in all competitions. >> there are two other games on england on sunday. there was a 1-0 win over manchester united. he beat west brom 2-0. real madrid made it 3 for 3 at the start of the spanish season. esko netted a double over athletic bill bowe. elise holman reports. >> the stage was dismantled, but lost in the center he was the unbeaten start to the season and took a "of an hour to take the lead. he has the ball for the new signing delivering again. renaldo doubled their lead just before halftime. the number 7 with his first goal

of the season to real, he was a threat from the pole as well after the break. but he claimed he doubled in the 72nd minute. he pulled one back light, but it finished 3-1 to real madrid. elise holman, al jazeera. to tennis and defending u.s. open champion andy murray is taking on germany meyer for a player in the last 16. world number three murray has won the first set on a tiebreak. roger federer and raphael nadal remain on track for a competition. he had three straight victories over his opponent if france. federer has won all ten previous meetings with the spanners. >> he came through the junior with me. he's only a year younger than i

am. i know his game well and he knows mine really well and we played over ten times on the tour. i think he's going to a great full hand and that's why he is. >> raphael nadal was just as comfortable as he overcome dodic is straight sets. the spaniard extended his hard-core report to 18 wins and no losses. let's look at kohlschreiber next. sixth seed was knocked out, and the date hasn't made it past the fourth ground since last year australian open. reigning motogp champion lorenzo won at silverton. he started from describe dislocating his shoulder.

he took a lead on the last lap to grab it and he still meets the stands for 30 points. the third round of the deutsche banc championship has been delayed in boston due to rain. sergio garcia currently holds a one-shot lead. he eagled the 18th hole leaving him 13 under for the tournament. tiger woods birdieing it alone. the american is six shoots before behind gus here. we'll have much more on garret bales transfer to real madrid on our best. that's all for now. paul, as ever, thank you very much. that's it from me and the team here in doha. there's lots more ahead. do stay with us. thanks for watching al jazeera. good-bye, now.

>> what are the laws going to begin to take effect? >> reporter: the laws do not go welcome to al jazeera. i'm dale walters in new york. the arab league is meeting in cairo to discuss how to respond to the suspected chemical attack in damascus, a day after president obama delayed intervention in sear instead sending it to congress for a vote. some arab states have expressed reservation. nelson mandela arrived home after three months in the hospital. but he remains in critical condition. his home has been set up to provide intensive care. he still needs all of the attention he's getting. the 95-year-old now with his family and